When the Cleveland Cavaliers signed Max Strus in free agency, some said that Cleveland paid too much to acquire him. Strus cost the Cavs $15.6 million this season and $62 million over the next four years. Moreover, signing Strus forced Cleveland to send two second-round picks, Cedi Osman and Lamar Stevens to the San Antonio Spurs to make things work financially. So, when the dust settled, Strus was making more money than Austin Reaves and forced his new team to give up draft picks and two rotation players in Osman and Stevens.

Okay, two things about the optics surrounding the Strus acquisition make the haters simply waiters at the table of Cleveland's success. First, Strus was the best overall unrestricted free agent on the market and could more or less control the asking price for his services. Considering that the Indiana Pacers, a divisional foe, were considered a threat to sign him, the Cavs had to find the financial means to talk shop and pay Strus the money he wanted.

Secondly, Strus gives the Cavs something they desperately needed heading into this season: Three-point shooting. Strus was the best overall three-point shooting threat on the open market, and was showing glimpses of that distinction early in the preseason. But when Cleveland opened up its 2023-24 campaign, Strus came out so hot that former Cavs play-by-play legend Fred McLeod would've lost his voice from how many times he'd be belting out, “The bottom!”

Max Strus makes three-point history in Cavs debut

Max Strus, Cavs

In Cleveland's 114-113 win over Brooklyn, Strus was the team's leading scorer with 27 points. Not only that, but Strus broke the record for most three-pointers made in a Cavs debut, connecting on seven of his thirteen attempts from beyond the arc. For reference, Strus's shot chart accounted for 31.7% of Cleveland's overall three-point attempts. More impressively, Strus was so accurate that he connected on nearly half of the Cavs' makes from three-point range as well.

Not every night will be like this for Strus as Cleveland's starting small forward. But he's exactly what the Cavs needed at the position and, more importantly, he's going to be a key piece in perfecting Cleveland's new offensive identity. Against the Nets, Strus and the Cavs took advantage of the extra attention Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell were getting on the perimeter. Strus was a safety valve for Cleveland's perimeter attack, taking (and making) the nearly wide-open looks he was getting.

More importantly, the Cavs eventually saw the Nets adjust their defensive approach and pay more attention to him in the second half, respecting Strus' presence outside the arc. Cleveland then responded to the adjustment, finding cleaner opportunities on the interior and taking advantage of the lack of defensive pressure. In the second half, 54.3% of the Cavs' attempts came from inside the arc, with 94.7% of those looks coming either directly at the rim or within a few feet of the basket.

Those numbers won't be the same on a nightly basis. But Strus is having an immediate impact on Cleveland's newfound offensive approach and helping the Cavs perfect their overall vision. It's a stark contrast to how Cleveland played last season, and there were times the Cavs showed the warts of what killed them on offense back then. It will take time for Cleveland to smooth out what didn't work last year, but based on early returns, things are looking bright with Strus on the loose offensively.